As little as a few fleeting weeks ago, while Ash Barty was still dominating all opponents in her path, the gap between the world number one and the rest of the top players seemed to be as vast as a canyon. Beneath her, so little separated the rest, and in her absence anyone could beat anyone else on any given day.
Yet in no time at all, the landscape of women’s tennis has shifted due to one player alone: Iga Swiatek has established herself as the transcendent figure in the sport. Two days before she officially becomes the new world number one, Swiatek took another enormous step forward in her young career with one of her biggest wins yet, dismantling four-times grand slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-0 to win the Miami Open.
